By Costas VasilopoulosOlive Oil Times Contributor | Reporting from Kalamata

A new report of a research team of Athens University describes what quality controls of extra virgin olive oil have revealed: among the 150 tested olive oil specimens from various areas of Greece and also from California, samples containing the largest quantities of the well-known oleocanthal and other anti-inflammatory substances were the Koroneiki variety — and especially the oils made from olives of the municipality of Messini, near Kalamata.

Olive oil quality has been prominent in the news recently, with headlines telling us that our extra virgin olive oil might not really be extra virgin. A pall of suspicion has been cast over the kitchen cupboard; how are we to know if that pretty bottle of olive oil has been lying about its extra virgin status? What’s a consumer to do?

It is true that there is some serious hanky panky going on in the ranks of extra virgin olive oil. The issues of adulteration, mislabeling and regulation are all real, complex and very important. That does not mean, however, that there is no hope for olive oil consumers until all these big issues are resolved. On the contrary, by learning a little, consumers can benefit a lot.

For years extra-virgin olive oil has been tasted and judged on its ability to produce a tingling or burning sensation in the back of the throat, the belief being that the more you cough, the better the quality of the oil. Now scientists have come up with evidence to support this method of tasting and to explain why it works.

In a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers revealed that sensor molecules, located in the human throat but not the mouth, attach to a chemical found in high-end olive oils causing the very noticeable sensation.